Merriam-Webster Logo
SINCE 1828
Menu
dictionary thesaurus

Thesaurus

sly

adjective

Synonyms and Antonyms of sly

1 clever at attaining one's ends by indirect and often deceptive means

  • the movie pairs a sly, dissembling ex-con with an upstanding, straight-arrow cop
Synonyms of sly

artful, beguiling, cagey (also cagy), crafty, cunning, cute, designing, devious, dodgy [chiefly British], foxy, guileful, scheming, shrewd, slick, subtle, tricky, wily
Words Related to sly

astute, facile, glib, sharp

crooked, deceitful, deceptive, dishonest, fraudulent, insinuating, knavish, Machiavellian, oblique, serpentine, shady, shifty, slippery, sneaky, treacherous, underhand, underhanded, unscrupulous

backhanded, double-dealing, hypocritical, insincere, left-handed, mealy, mealymouthed, smooth-tongued, two-faced

circuitous, circular, roundabout

clandestine, concealed, covert, furtive, hugger-mugger, secret, stealthy, surreptitious, undercover

calculating, plotting
Near Antonyms of sly

obvious, open, patent, plain, public, unconcealed

aboveboard, candid, direct, forthright, frank, honest, natural, outspoken, plainspoken, real, simple, sincere, straightforward, unaffected, unpretending, unpretentious, unvarnished

childlike, impressionable, simpleminded, unsophisticated, unworldly

unforced, unstudied

trustful, trusting
Antonyms of sly

artless, guileless, ingenuous, innocent, undesigning

2 given to acting in secret and to concealing one's intentions

  • why, you sly fellow! I had no idea you were planning my birthday party
  • a sly undercover police officer
Synonyms of sly

furtive, shady, shifty, slippery, sneaking, sneaky, stealthy
Words Related to sly

artful, crafty, cunning, devious, foxy, guileful, slick, wily

close, closemouthed, reticent, secretive

clandestine, covert, dark

deceitful, deceiving, deceptive, devious, duplicitous, trickish, tricky, underhand, underhanded

cheating, crooked, defrauding, dishonest, dissembling, double-dealing, knavish, two-faced

lying, mendacious, untrustworthy, untruthful

insidious, perfidious, serpentine, treacherous
Near Antonyms of sly

aboveboard, forthright, plainspoken, straightforward

candid, direct, foursquare, frank, open, plain

honest, trustworthy, truthful

3 tending to or exhibiting reckless playfulness

  • a sly sense of humor
Synonyms of sly

arch, devilish, elvish, espiègle, impish, knavish, leprechaunish, mischievous, pixie (also pixy), pixieish, prankish, puckish, rascally, roguish, scampish, tricksy, waggish, wicked
Words Related to sly

antic, coltish, coy, frisky, frolicsome, kittenish, playful, sportful, sportive

gay, happy, lighthearted, whimsical

energetic, lively, spirited, sprightly

artful, crafty, cunning, trickish, tricky, wily

misbehaving, naughty, troublemaking

pestering, riling, teasing
Near Antonyms of sly

grave, grim, sedate, sober, solemn, staid, stern

Synonym Discussion of sly

sly, cunning, crafty, wily, tricky, foxy, artful, slick mean attaining or seeking to attain one's ends by guileful or devious means. sly implies furtiveness, lack of candor, and skill in concealing one's aims and methods.
    • a sly corporate raider
cunning suggests the inventive use of sometimes limited intelligence in overreaching or circumventing.
    • the cunning fox avoided the trap
crafty implies cleverness and subtlety of method.
    • a crafty lefthander
wily implies skill and deception in maneuvering.
    • the wily fugitive escaped the posse
tricky is more likely to suggest shiftiness and unreliability than skill in deception and maneuvering.
    • a tricky political operative
foxy implies a shrewd and wary craftiness usually involving devious dealing.
    • a foxy publicity man planting stories
artful implies indirectness in dealing and often connotes sophistication or cleverness.
    • elicited the information by artful questioning
slick emphasizes smoothness and guile.
    • slick operators selling time-sharing

Learn More about sly

  1. Dictionary: Definition of sly Spanish Central: Translation of sly Nglish: Translation of sly for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of sly for Arabic speakers

Seen and Heard

What made you want to look up sly? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

show comments hide comments

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

WORD OF THE DAY

biannual

occurring twice a year or every two years

Get Word of the Day daily email!

TRENDING NOW

  1. Spartan Red Cross Warns of Shelter Conditions

  2. hirsute RIP Burt Reynolds

  3. op-ed NYT Publishes Anonymous Piece

  4. collegiality Kavanaugh Mentions Word in Hearing

  5. mistrial Manafort Guilty on 8 Counts

SEE ALL

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Words at Play

Ask the Editors

Word Games